Would appreciate hearing about Grizzly shaper cutters, not the machines, regarding quality from those who have actually used them. I have 7 by Freud and there are 4 additional shapes/sizes I now need. Saving $35-47 doallrs each makes me wonder about quality and longevity.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.

-- I dream of a world where a duck can cross the road and no one asks why.

4 replies so far

I’ve not used their shaper bits, but I have used lots of their 1/2” shank router bits with good success. I cannot imagine that their shaper bits would not be every bit as good. I got a bit with a ding in the bearing & grizzly.com sent a full replacement bit (instead of just sending the bearing) no questions asked.

I upgraded to a 3 hp shaper from a router table about a year ago. At that time I purchase new Freeborn, Infinity, and Grizzly ¾” bore cutters. While I have 3 Grizzly rabbeting cutters, I have only used the two Grizzly 3/8” and ½” roundover 3-wing cutters.

The Grizzly roundover cutters cut profiles in walnut in one pass easily at 10,000 rpm, leaving a smooth clean cut. These results are by hand feeding; I have no power feeder. The cutter drops onto the spindle easily and bore hole fits well; about the same fit as the Freeborn and Infinity cutters. There seems to be barely perceptible play in all these the cutters on the spindle on my shaper. I have not used the cutters very much, so I cannot say how they will hold up. Perhaps Grizzly states the thickness and type of carbide used, which should be an indicator of their longevity. Based on my limited experience, I would recommend the Grizzly cutters.

On the other hand, I also bought several Grizzly ¾” bore roller bearing guides. The consistent issue with roller bearing guides is that it was nearly impossible to slip the bearings onto the spindle. The fit is extremely close. As an idea as to their fit; with light taps from a hammer and some machine oil the roller bearing guides could probably be forced on the spindle. Not wanting to take a hammer to my new shaper, I successfully spent some time with 80 grit sand paper wrapped around a dowel. I was able to remove enough material from the bore hole to get the right fit of the roller bearing guides. Given this experience, I would look for another source for roller bearing guides, if you are in the market for roller bearing guides.

Thanks all above. I have not used their cutters but appreciate the feedback to the op.

It has been years but when I was in the shop I used insert cutters for cope and stick and an insert head for most everything else. That everything else often had hand ground knives (that was a valuable lesson the boss taught me). Basically, I never spent time with the green bear. Now that I have two shapers and have to tool them it’s nice to know where to look.